Christmas is not just a commemoration of the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.     Rather, Christmas is the celebration of the great manifestation of the love of God for us humans.     It is the celebration of the great "Emmanuel" (God-is-with-us) Mystery of Faith.     This celebration ranks only after Easter among the Mysteries of Faith that we celebrate.

A wealth of symbolism is used in the Prayers and in the Scripture passages proclaimed during this Season.      These Prayers and Readings shed some light on the tremendous fact,  that God wants to share our human condition.     And, not only share our human condition, God wants to fill each of us with His unconditional love.     Several symbols are used to accomplish this.    However, the most primitive symbol used, is that of "light versus darkness".    As St. John states in the Prologue to his Gospel:   "The light shines on in darkness, a darkness that did not overcome it.    There was a man named John sent by God, who came as a witness to testify to the light, so that through him all men might believe, but only to testify to the light, for he himself was not the light . . . . The real light which gives light to every man was coming into the world.    He was in the world, and through Him the world was made, yet the world did not know Who He was." (John 1:5 -10).

We Catholic Christians began celebrating this Mystery of Faith no earlier than 330 A.D.      And, when we did, we placed this celebration not at the time of year that Jesus was born which is not known.    Some scholars think it was the Fall or Spring, but no one knows!    Rather, this celebration, because it is the feast of the coming of the True Light into the world, was placed at the time of the pagan festival of the winter solstice (Dies Natalis Solis Invicti), which as established by the Roman Emperor Auralian in 274 A.D. in honor of the Syrian Sun God.   At this celebration, pagan worshipers of the Sun celebrated the return of longer days after the shortest day of the year.     To counter worship of the pagan god in favor of Christ, the True "Sun of Justice", the "Light of the world", the church of Rome located the feast of Christ's Glorious Birth on that same day.     We Christians celebrate the dawn of God's light shining upon us humans.    We Christians are led through the valley of darkness by the light that came into the world. 

We probably all remember the Christmas song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas".   Even though a local radio station once proclaimed the Twelve Days of Christmas as those before December 25^th, we Catholic Christians have always kept the Twelve Days of Christmas as the a Season from December 25^th through January 6^th.     

January 6^th was the traditional day for the celebration of the feast of the Epiphany.     However, since Vatican II, we now extend the Season of Christmas until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord --- the Sunday after Epiphany or the day after the feast of the Epiphany, if we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany after January 6^th.     Till recently the Season of Christmas in Europe extended from Christmas Day till the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple, February 2^nd.     Catholic Christians in Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Ukraine, Bohemia, and others kept their Christmas trees and decorations up till February 2^nd, though never lighting their tree after January 6^th.

Our Church says about the Christmas Season:    "Next to the yearly celebration of the Paschal Mystery, i.e., meaning the Sacred Triduum and the Easter Season, the Church holds most sacred the memorial of Christ's Birth and early manifestations.    This is the purpose of the Christmas Season." (General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, par. # 32).       

    Christmas is much more than just the celebration of Jesus' Birthday.   This  Christmas Season, rather, is a time for remembering and reveling in the manifestation of God's love and care for us.     God's love is seen in God's Son being born in Bethlehem.   It is seen in the angels of God revealing the Promised Messiah to the Jewish Shepherds around Bethlehem, and in the revelation of the Christ to the Gentile Magi (by the way, that is you and I too).    It is further seen in the revelation during Christ's Baptism by John in the River Jordan that Christ is the Son of God made man, and in the revelation by Jesus Himself at the Wedding at Cana that He is Son of God by His changing water into wine on the third day (John 2:1).     In all these saving events, we know that "the Word is made flesh and dwells amongst us". (John 1:14).

How can we Catholic Christians keep Christmas not just as "a Day", but as "a Season"?     Well, we can keep the tree up and watered (if real) and shining bright until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.     We can also sing/play Christmas Caroles during these days.    We can also read some part of the Scriptural passages about the Christmas events every day during this Season.     We can keep our crèche surrounded by flowers and in a prominent spot during these Christmas Days.

Over the centuries, popular piety has sentimentalized Christmas into the well-known "Baby-Jesus" cult.    This kind of piety is not reflected in the Liturgical Prayers, in the Biblical Readings, in the Writings of the Early Fathers of the Church, nor in the Theology of this Mystery of Faith.     The four Christmas Masses, the Feast of the Holy Family, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the Solemnities of the Epiphany (Public Manifestation) of Our Lord and His Baptism elucidate the various aspects of God's self-disclosure in the Lord Jesus, in Whom He is really "Emmanuel - God-with-us".     "In Him (Jesus) we see our God made visible and so are caught up in love of the God we cannot see." (Preface I for Christmas).      The Child of Christmas is not some weak little baby, the Child of Christmas our God made human.    He is like us in all things, but sin.     The Child of Christmas as John ends his Prologue is:    "No one has ever seen God.   It is God the only Son, ever at the Father's side, Who has revealed Him." (John 1:18).     "Though He was in the form of God, He did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at.     Rather, He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men.     He was known to be of human estate and it was thus that He humbled Himself.   Obediently accepting even death, death on the cross." (Philippians 2:6-8).     This is the Child we celebrate: God made man dwelling amongst us!

Let's all try our best to keep the Christmas Season with the whole Church   throughout the world!   "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men of good will."     "On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . ."        Oh! what wonders and glory my True Love, the Lord God, gives me during these Twelve Days of Christmas!